Hernando Turning Out To Vote Early

Hernando Today

BROOKSVILLE - Maybe it's a burning desire for tax relief.

Maybe it's a burned-out electorate eager to take action after a presidential campaign that many complain started much too early.

Whatever the reason, voters appear to be motivated this time around, judging from the number who already have their civic duty out of the way.

As of Wednesday afternoon, 4,930 people had exercised their right to vote early, according to the Hernando County Supervisor of Elections office.

As well, another 3,250 had already returned their absentee ballots, which accounts for more than half of the 6,082 requested.

The early and absentee votes cast so far account for about 7 percent of the county's 115,579 registered voters.

"It's very impressive," said Annie Williams, elections supervisor. "I think it's great we've had this type of turnout."

Williams had theorized before early voting began that Amendment 1, the proposed constitutional amendment that would make the Save Our Homes tax cap benefit portable and increase the homestead exemption, would be a big draw this time around.

It also could be enough to get Democrats out of the house, despite the Democratic National Committee's refusal to count the state's delegates as punishment for pushing up the state's primary date.

A breakdown of early and absentee voters according to party affiliation wasn't available Wednesday.

However, elections officials could say that the number of absentee ballots requested was split almost evenly between the two major parties, with Democrats requesting a mere nine more ballots.

In Hernando, Republicans outnumber Democrats by 2,652.

A sizeable portion of the county's voters - 24,481 - are registered with minor parties or have no party affiliation.

In the 2004 presidential primary, 28.4 percent of the county's voters showed up to cast a ballot. Of those, 1,500 - or 1.47 percent - voted early and roughly the same percentage cast an absentee ballot.

For those who plan to wait until Election Day on Tuesday, Jan. 29, polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.